Should Hollywood directors use iPhone 7 Plus to shoot movies?

Sure, the latest flagship iPhone features one of the best smartphone cameras out there. Its dual-camera system allows you to take pictures in Portrait Mode with blurred background. But it still lags behindDSLR cameras. Apple’s ad shows two children acting out William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in a realistic setting. The video then reveals that what we are seeing is a father recording a school play with the iPhone 7 Plus.

Then a caption from Apple appears: “Your movies look like movies on iPhone 7.” It implies that the 5.5-inch iPhone is as good as movie cameras. It depends on what movies you are talking about. You can certainly shoot something like the Blair Witch Project with your iPhone 7, but not The Grand Budapest Hotel, says Chris Matyszczyk of CNet. The ad ends with the “Practically magic” tagline that Apple has used in the previous iPhone 7 ads.

The new ad comes after Apple’s annual Frankie’s Holiday ad featuring an iPhone-totting Frankenstein. Interestingly, the Frankie’s Holiday ad focused only on the iPhone rather than a variety of Apple products. The iPhone 7 Plus features dual 12-megapixel high-speed sensors with optical image stabilization (OIS), f/1.8 aperture, wide color gamut, and new image signal processors.

iPhone 7 demand “OK, not great”

Consumers are not too excited about the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus as they prefer to wait for the 2017 iPhone 8. Recent reports suggest that Apple has asked its suppliers to cut down on the iPhone 7 production amid fading demand. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple suppliers would revise down their shipment forecasts by 5%-15% in the last two months of 2016.

On Monday, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves told investors that the iPhone 7 demand was “OK, not great.” The research firm has slashed its price target on the stock from $129 to $127 due to “uninspiring” iPhone demand. Pacific Crest estimates Apple to sell 77 million iPhones during the December quarter.

The 2017 iPhone 8 is said to feature an all-glass design with the home button and fingerprint sensor embedded in the display itself. Apple is expected to switch to OLED display with the next-gen iPhone.